


Unfortunate Events

by iceprinceloki



Category: Original Work, Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Alternate Universe, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Creature Fic, Dominance, F/F, F/M, Forced Relationship, M/M, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, Multi, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Original Character(s), Power Imbalance, Rape, Rape Aftermath, Submission, Teenage Rebellion, Teenagers, been sitting on this for ages, don't hate me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:13:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24144169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iceprinceloki/pseuds/iceprinceloki
Summary: AU where our vampires encounter a new species of immortal. Marius accidentally forms a mateship bond with one, and they have to learn to deal with each other. Hadrian, Marius' bond mate, doesn't take shit and does everything he can to thwart Marius' attempts at developing their relationship. With the help of his friends of course. But Marius won't be bullied forever and they have to find a way to make it work.
Relationships: Armand/Daniel Molloy, Armand/Louis de Pointe du Lac, Augustan/Phillipe, Ekon/Dominic, Lestat de Lioncourt/David Talbot, Lestat de Lioncourt/Louis de Pointe du Lac, Marius de Romanus/Hadrian, Maximillus/Elias
Comments: 19
Kudos: 27





	1. Bonded

**Author's Note:**

> The original characters are from my book that I'm writing, but they are AU here as well since in my book they are humans or vampires. Let me know if I should keep writing and I hope you enjoy this! Anything in Italics is spoken in Verian, a language unique to my characters.

‘Hadrian come back! We’re not supposed to be here!’ Gabriel grabbed his twin angrily, eyeing the giant castle fearfully.

Hadrian shrugged him off and scoffed derisively. ‘Come on! Don’t you want to see what that smell is?!’

‘Actually Hadrian I’m also thinking this might be a bad idea…..’ Henley swallowed hard and looked to Valerie and Cael for support. ‘We’re just a bunch of kids, we don’t know what’s in there!’

Valerie and Cael nodded their agreement and Cael spoke gently. ‘Hadrian I understand the curiosity but this is very dangerous, we were specifically told not to come here. If Augustan finds out-’

‘Augustan won’t find out!’ Hadrian was getting annoyed. ‘Nothing’s going to happen, we’re just going to take a little peek and see what’s making that smell.’

He turned his back on his friends and began walking to a staircase that led to the veranda. French doors opened into the vast ballroom of the castle. Hadrian was newly sixteen, red of hair and grey eyed. He and his identical twin Gabriel were short, slight and fair of skin. The twins had soft, tiny white scales in unique patterns over their faces and bodies, stark contrast to Valerie and Henley who had brightly coloured scales; blue and mauve respectively.

Hadrian’s friends followed him wearily and they hid behind the pillars on either side of a set of French doors. The ballroom was full of people, dancing, singing, laughing and apparently prowling. The teens watched the figures spin in endless circles around the room, the preternatural laughter almost hurting their sensitive ears.

‘Are those….’ Gabriel whispered fearfully.

‘Vampires.’ Cael finished with a whimper.

‘Right Hadrian you’ve had your fun, now let’s go!’ Valerie tugged on his hand insistently.

Hadrian huffed and glared at his friends. ‘We just got here! We’ve barely seen anything! If those are vampires, then where’s their prince? We’re fine where we are, no one has seen us. Let’s just stay a while!’

‘Yes, just stay a while….we insist.’ The unknown voice was followed by rough hands grabbing and shoving the teenagers into the ballroom.

All sounds stopped as they were half dragged to the dais where Lestat was perched on his throne.

‘Let go!’ Henley yelled as he squirmed in the arms of a much larger male vampire.

_‘No!’_ Valerie barked in their mother tongue. _‘Don’t speak English, speak Varian, that way they won’t know what we’re saying and they’ll think they can speak about us freely.’_

‘We found these five outside, they were too shy to join the festivities, so we decided to help them along.’ A large vampire with dark hair and eyes said to Lestat, squeezing Hadrian’s arms as he spoke.

Lestat stood up and approached them cautiously, he placed his hand on Cael’s face and stared into his large green eyes. He brushed the smallest boy’s brown hair back away from his eyes and trailed his fingers down and over Cael’s mouth.

_‘Bite him Cael!’_ Hadrian said heatedly. _‘It’ll serve him right!’_

_‘Hadrian stop!’_ Henley moaned unhappily. _‘We’re in enough trouble as it is!’_

‘What language are you speaking?’ A tall blond man with blue eyes asked them in English. ‘I heard you speak English, I believe you can understand me perfectly. My name is Marius, we are vampires. What are your names? I gathered your name is Cael and yours is Hadrian, but I don’t believe I heard the others.’

Marius looked between the five adolescents with a grace and calm that seemed impossible to disturb. He was staring Hadrian down in particular as the boy was glowering indignantly at him. Henley it seemed, couldn’t bear the panic any longer when Lestat approached him and reached out to stroke the scales on his face.

‘My name is Henley and we are verus! Please let us go! We didn’t mean any harm we were just curious!’ He burst out in English. ‘We’re just juveniles….’

‘Verus?’ Lestat spoke in a puzzled tone.

A dark-skinned man stepped forward confidently. ‘Oh I remember reading about your kind. You can let them go they can’t move at preternatural speed….’

The vampires holding them stepped away and the five quickly pulled together, trying to keep their eyes on all the vampires at once.

‘Where is your clan?’ The man asked Henley, identifying him as the only one willing to speak.

‘David what are you on about?’ Lestat turned to the dark man.

This was David Talbot, the old talamascan Augustan had spoken about before. Gabriel recognised his name and turned wide eyed to Hadrian.

_‘He can help us! We have to speak to him or who knows what will happen to us here?’_ Gabriel said urgently to his brother but Hadrian shook his head.

_‘No if we’re wrong and they find out we speak English we might be in for something worse. Better they think we can’t all understand them. They think Henley speaks English, that’s fine, but they don’t need to know that we all understand. Think about it like this. If they talk to each other about us thinking we don’t understand we will learn more about what they plan to do.’_ Hadrian took his brothers hand comfortingly.

David was suddenly right in front of them. ‘I’m a little rusty but here goes nothing….. _where_ is your _clan? What clan_ are you from?’

He smiled at Gabriel reassuringly and waited to see which twin would reply. Hadrian looked slowly to Henley.

_‘I’m just going to pretend I didn’t understand a word of that, and you need to act like you’re trying to explain it to me.’_ He said to his lanky friend, he spoke as though he was confused, trying to make the vampires think he was asking what David had said.

Henley didn’t reply he stared helplessly at his friends. For a dominant he was really very soft, Hadrian couldn’t hold it against him, but since he and Gabriel were submissives and Cael was still unpresented they were counting on their two dominant friends to save the day.

‘I can’t read their thoughts.’ Marius said suddenly, drawing Hadrian’s attention.

David sighed and walked away from them. ‘No you won’t be able to, only mates can read each other’s thoughts. These five are in fact juveniles, I doubt any one of them is older than sixteen. Cael is below sixteen.’

‘How can you tell?’ Lestat asked, staring down at the small boy.

‘His scales are a dull brown still, fledgling verus have dull brown scales until they mature into either submissives or dominants.’ David told his maker, watching him as he examined each of them. ‘It’s a matter of camouflage. The submissives will have white scales until they form a mateship then their scales begin to colour, the dominants have colour already.’

‘Why scales?’ A red-haired woman asked David quietly. ‘What are the scales for?’

Gabriel was Lestat’s current fixation, he was touching the soft red hair and staring into the submissives grey eyes curiously.

‘Their scales serve a lot of functions. They coat in pheromones that veri can use to track each other, sooth fledglings or claim a territory. They represent the social position, they attract partners.’ David’s voice turned sharp as Lestat’s fingers brushed Gabriel’s cheek, following his scales to his jawline. ‘They act as erogenous zones as well and it’s very inappropriate to touch them if you aren’t their mate or parent.’

Lestat pulled away immediately and apologized. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was insulting you.’

Sticking to their agreement Gabriel just stared at him silently with a blank expression on his face.

‘This would be a lot easier if they spoke English.’ The prince said with a frustrated sigh.

‘They should speak English.’ David frowned. ‘They couldn’t get by in the mortal world if they only spoke Verian. I’m not sure why only one of them speaks English.’

Marius approached Henley and took one of his hands between his own. ‘Henley, could you shed some light on this situation please? Are you the only one who speaks English?’

‘Yes.’ Henley said without missing a beat.

‘What clan are you from and where are they?’ David followed up Marius’ question.

Henley looked to Valerie for help. She shrugged and motioned for him to speak.

‘We’re from Augustans clan…. they’re on the other side of those woods…. the plan was to camp there for one night before moving on; you know, it’s getting colder here in Europe we need to follow the warm weather. We wanted to explore, and Augustan said we could so long as we stayed away from here…’

Marius chuckled at that and laid a hand on his shoulder. ‘Of course, you had to disobey, didn’t you? Did you know there were vampires here?’

‘No Augustan wouldn’t tell us why we couldn’t come.’ Henley was relaxing the more he spoke. ‘We really were going to listen but while we were playing we picked up on a strange scent and wanted to see what it was…we’ve never scented vampires before…if we’d known there were vampires here we’d never have come, honest!’

‘It’s alright that you came, we aren’t upset with you. It’s just rather unusual to have teenagers spying on us.’ Marius smiled good naturedly and walked up to Hadrian.

‘I don’t trust this.’ An auburn-haired boy spoke from the shadows. ‘The replimoids are trouble enough without another species coming up out of nowhere.’

‘Oh stop it Armand!’ The red-haired girl spoke. ‘David and I spent our lives studying the paranormal, if these verus are a threat to vampires we would have seen reports to show it.’

‘I agree with Armand, I don’t understand why we are letting them be.’ It was a woman who spoke now, her hair was long, curly and yellow and her face closely resembled Lestat’s; she was his mother. ‘Who knows how many of them are out there? Maybe there are no records because there was no one to write them when all was said and done. We need to know more about them and they aren’t going to tell us.’

She disappeared from the dias and when she appeared, she had her arms around Gabriel from behind and was preparing to bite him. Gabriel screamed and struggled to get free to no avail. Hadrian turned and punched her while Valerie grabbed her by the hair and pulled her off. Gabriel dropped to the ground and held Cael to him. Hadrian lashed out at Gabrielle and drove her backwards into Henley who was now ready to fight and protect them.

Before Hadrian could land another blow on the woman he was grabbed from behind by Marius. Hadrian could see Valerie and Henley fighting with Gabrielle while the other vampires began closing in around them. He kicked and thrashed and tried to hit the man’s head. Marius struggled to hold him still and finally turned Hadrian’s head to the side and bit him on the neck.

Hadrian froze, his skin was burning, his scales were itchy and tremors were going up and down his body in delightful waves. Marius’ mouth moved like silk against him and he blacked out suddenly. It was only for a moment, when he opened his eyes Marius had withdrawn his fangs and was speaking into his ear. ‘Calm down, no harm will come to any of you, this ends now.’

Lestat was ordering all the vampires away from the little group. Gabriel and Cael were still on the ground in each other’s arms. Henley and Valerie were battered, Henley had a slight limp and a rip in his trousers from knee to heel revealed a deep gash in his leg. Marius slowly turned Hadrian in his arms, the boy was too weak to stand and was easily manoeuvrable. His mouth opened slightly, and Hadrian thought he was about to speak.

‘Get away from them!’ A loud and angry voice echoed off the walls of the room.

Hadrian had never been happier to hear Augustans voice before. Cael and Gabriel cried out happily for Phillipe and Dominic; two older submissives in the clan.

Marius was staring at Hadrian’s face and released him as though he had been burned. ‘Your scales….’

Hadrian blinked twice and slowly lifted his hands and gazed at his darkening scales. A royal blue began to ombre his scales from root to halfway down their individual lengths. He screamed as only a verus could, drawing echoing roars for other verus who seemed to be approaching the castle. Strong arms grabbed him and pulled him away from Marius and Hadrian recognized Ekon’s voice over his shoulder; the dominant passed him on to Dominic and laid into Marius verbally.

‘What have you done!?’


	2. Questions Answered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The vampires question the verus and try to find out what these creatures are and how they tick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't written AU or Mpreg in so long! And I wouldn't but this has been in my brain for months and I won't get rid of it until I write it. I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Marius stared at Hadrian’s changing scales in surprise and only looked away at the sound of Ekon snarling at him.

‘I don’t know what happened!’ He said defensively.

‘Liar! You laid claim to him! How dare you!’ Dominic yelled just as angry as Ekon.

Jesse quickly got between Marius and the angry verus. ‘He didn’t know! I don’t even know how this happened!’

‘He gave Hadrian a mating bite.’ David said wearily, he eyed the angry verus and watched as more filtered into the room from the veranda.

The adult verus surrounded the juveniles, there were five submissives and a dozen dominants, all had their hackles up and were snarling at the vampires in the room.

‘All of you need to leave.’ Seth addressed the vampires. ‘Walk out slowly and return to your rooms, this situation doesn’t need your involvement.’

The tribe left as ordered, leaving only the original coven of the articulate, plus the newer members like Benjamin, Fareed, Rose and Viktor. The ballroom doors shut behind the last vampires and the verus relaxed marginally. The submissives closed in tighter around the five juveniles and the dominants spread out around them. Hadrian was in Dominics arms, huddled behind Ekon, separate from the others.

‘You claimed him, a stranger and a vampire no less. You claimed a juvenile submissive!’ Augustan walked forward slowly. 

Marius held his hands up placatingly. ‘I did not know that a bite would form any sort of bond, I meant only to stop his attempts at fighting me.’

‘I don’t believe that for a second.’ Elias was Hadrian and Gabriel’s older brother, a dominant, he sneered and circled closer to Marius threateningly. ‘You have Talamascans in your coven, you cannot try and tell us that they never told you of our kind. Especially since we have travelled through this area of France for hundreds of years in the pursuit of warmer weather; they have documented this.’

‘Regardless of intentions or awareness of our existence, a bond has been formed successfully.’ Phillipe’s gentle voice joined the conversation. ‘Arguing and getting angry is not helping anyone. We need to take control of the situation and handle it as best we can.’

Phillipe had Gabriel and Cael caged between his arms and two other submissives. Valerie and Henley stood with the remaining two submissives. Some of the dominants were growling at the vampires, when Henley made a move to approach Hadrian, the largest of the dominants snarled and knocked him onto his back.

‘Hey!’ Rose yelled indignantly, taking a step forward.

The dominant rounded on her with the same ferocity, only held back by Augustans arms wrapping around his chest.

‘Don’t involve yourself.’ David said to her immediately. ‘There’s a hierarchy and there are rules we don’t know or understand.’

‘Astute of you.’ Ekon grumbled, eyes still locked on Marius.

Marius turned to Augustan. ‘Perhaps we should take this to the council chamber? It is just next door to this room.’

Louis came forward from the dias and smiled at the verus. ‘You can follow me, the chamber will accommodate all of us.’

Louis led the way to the chamber, Lestat by his side, and the vampires and verus sat together around the council table. The only exception being seven dominants and the five juveniles, who were moved to the back of the room by four of the submissives. Phillipe was the only submissive to join the dominants at the table, which was expected of him as the mate of the clan leader.

‘Alright I think the first thing we need to discuss is what you are and where you came from. How did these five get here?’ Lestat was abrupt and to the point, it was nearly midnight and they needed to cover all the specifics.

Augustan spoke before anyone else. ‘First of all I think we need to introduce ourselves. I am Augustan and this is Phillipe, we are the ruling mateship of the clan. This is Ekon and Dominic, the intended rulers of the new branch of the clan. Elias is Hadrian and Gabriel’s brother and this not-so-gentle giant is Maximillus, he is new to the clan. We know who all of you are of course.’

‘It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.’ Louis responded when no other vampire seemed about to speak. ‘Would you be so kind as to tell us more about your kind? Everything has happened so fast and suddenly, it’s very difficult to keep up…’

‘We are verus, a kind of immortal being like yourselves except we are born this way and we do not die in sunlight. We drink blood, human and animal. We have complex family structures and we are here because we are on our way to the equator.’ Maximillus stared at Louis when he spoke, dark eyes wide and blank.

‘We don’t do well in cold climates; we won’t die but we do not like it either.’ Phillipe added. ‘We have been coming through this area for a very long time on our annual travel. This is the first time we have encountered vampires although we knew your chateaux was somewhere around here.’

‘So you warned them that we were here?’ Armand said with raised eyebrows. ‘They knew exactly what they were doing and purposefully-!’

‘That’s not true.’ Dominic shut him down, his ombre orange scales seemed to shimmer with his anger. ‘We tell our juveniles about vampires, but they don’t know where or how to find vampires. Specifically, to prevent them being bonded to uneducated vampires who are just looking for a meal.’

Marius looked flustered and he put on his most reassuring voice. ‘I was not trying to make a meal out of him! He was fighting against my hold and I sought to incapacitate him briefly.’

‘As Phillipe said before there is no point fighting about what happened.’ Louis chastised them all, and the group fell silent. ‘What does this bond mean for them? What are their individual roles? What is the purpose of bonding in this way and is it not reversable?’

‘It’s like a marriage but it’s for eternity not until death do us part. Hadrian is a submissive, therefore Marius automatically becomes the dominant, but he won’t be able to perform all the functions dominants do. He will be able to exert some control through the bond and he will be able to reproduce with Hadrian, but other things like knowing how to correct him will need to be learned. The purpose of bonding is to continue of kind, it’s not different in design to any other bond. It is not reversible.’ Phillipe was able to explain in detail without diverging from the point. ‘When verus bond they become frozen in time, he will not age further than he has, He will never be able to choose a new dominant and no dominant can override the bond.’

‘So that is how you become immortal?’ Fareed asked, he was scribbling in a journal as they spoke and looked very excited by all he was hearing. ‘You bond with each other? And you say Hadrian can get pregnant by Marius, despite Marius being a vampire and Hadrian being male?’

‘Yes, Hadrian’s pheromones will change to appeal to Marius, it is this and the drinking of verus blood that can enable vampires to reproduce. You see we are made for this, if our mate cannot give us children our bodies adapt to make it happen.’ Augustan was just as relaxed as his mate and he seemed amused by Fareeds curiosity.

Seth was frowning at them and asked slowly. ‘So if we drink verus blood we could all become potent again?’

‘Yes, but if you aren’t mated to the verus it only lasts for so long as the blood is in your system.’ Maximillus gazed at them with an almost serene glaze in his eyes. ‘And to bite a verus submissive would make a bond as we know.’

Marius looked over to where the juveniles and submissives were sitting by a lit fireplace. They were involved in their own conversations in their language and paid no mind to the adults around the table. Hadrian was in the arms of his twin, he looked faraway and he stared at his hands and their scales. The boy was attractive, sixteen and virginal if his elders were to be believed. The thought that this boy would be his for all time was tantalizing, that they might have children was even more incredible; but what manner of children?

‘You say he can give me children. What would they be? Vampire hybrids?’ He asked Phillipe directly.

Augustan and Phillipe shared a look that made Marius nervous. ‘They would most likely be verus, but there have been cases of vampires being born to bonds like yours….’ Phillipe looked uncomfortable and he avoided Marius’ eyes.

‘Something about this makes you uneasy. What is it?’ Pandora voiced what they were all thinking.

‘Those babies never grow….do they?’

It was Louis who spoke the words into existence, making Marius and the verus tense. He was staring at his lap and Lestat slid an arm around his waist to sooth him. David on Louis’ other side took one of his hands into his own. Marius felt sympathy for Louis, he knew the man was thinking about his long-lost Claudia.

‘What happens to those babies?’ Armand didn’t seem to have any tact; he was the same with the replimoids and Marius was really tiring of it.

‘The dominant always kills them, before the submissive can scent it and form an attachment to it.’ Phillipe was demure and he looked to Louis, he clearly felt Louis’ pain as clearly as the vampires did. ‘It is kinder on the babe, however painful for the parents.’

‘Are there any other questions?’ Ekon tried to change the subject, also looking at Louis compassionately.

The vampires looked between themselves trying to find any question that hadn’t been asked.

‘What powers do you have?’ Viktor asked. ‘Surely you are equipped with some abilities to survive.’

‘We are as strong as most vampires, adults can move too fast for mortals to see, juveniles and fledglings can blend into their environment so well they cannot be seen unless you know what to look for or you are able to scent them. Like you we develop new powers as we age; there are some of our kind who develop the power to control nature, plants, fire or animals. Our submissives have venom in their bites at will, Marius doesn’t need to fear Hadrian because his instincts will not allow him to use it against his mate.’ Maximillus looked at Elis thoughtfully. ‘Did I forget anything?’

‘Our voices reach volumes mortals cannot hear, or volumes too loud for mortals to tolerate. Our eyes are like cats eyes, we can see very well in the dark. Our sense of smell and hearing are fine-tuned, better than yours in fact.’ Elias continued where Maximillus had left out information. ‘We can go out in the day time but we don’t like to because it’s often too hot in the sun. These are standard abilities but every verus has something mostly unique; you won’t find out what it is until they use it.’

Louis finally looked up and seemed to have pulled himself together. ‘I think you have answered all the questions we have for now. Except for one; what happens now?’

Augustan turned his attention to Marius and spoke seriously. ‘Now you try and further your bond, you need to get to know him and start a real relationship with him. You need to start learning how dominants and submissives interact so that you can treat him as his instinct expects. You need to start thinking about when you are going to complete the bond.’

It was a lot to take in, Marius looked again to his new bond mate and sighed when the boy looked up with an angry scowl. This would be a challenge but he’d dealt with unruly teenagers before, he could get this boy into line easily enough….hopefully.

‘It is nearly dawn.’ Louis stood up and they all followed suit, he looked to Augustan and smiled politely. ‘Would you rather sleep down in the crypts or in rooms?’

‘The crypts if it’s not too much trouble, it would be best that we stay together.’

The dominants at the back of the room gathered the submissives and juveniles and Dominic took the boys hand gently and pulled him to Marius. Dominic stood between them, which was just as well because Hadrian was glaring at Marius around his chaperone. Marius raised an eyebrow questioningly, but the boy only scoffed and looked away grouchily.

At least Augustan seemed to be reasonable enough, Marius quite liked him and his mate. He would need to warm up to Ekon and Dominic but they had time to get to know one another. Louis and Lestat led the way down to the crypts where a few vampires were already fast asleep. The verus and vampires spoke between themselves about the chateaux, the destination the verus were going to, who they were as individuals. The usual things people talk about when they meet for the first time. Marius was glad to see them all speaking amicably, if a little tensely.

They arrived at the largest crypt which was devoid of any vampires. The verus were invited to bed down wherever they pleased, and they gladly did so with words of thanks. The vampires then began to find their own spots. Marius watched Daniel walking to the side where most of the verus were, Armand intercepted him and herded him to the other side of the room. Marius sighed at the sight of his fledgling making Daniel sleep on the same spot as him. The auburn-haired boy was so suspicious these days.

Dominic and Hadrian stood beside Marius and Ekon stood a little way ahead of them. Dominic looked between Marius and Hadrian meaningfully, Marius realized with a jolt that he was meant to have Hadrian beside himself. He walked to his usual spot, it had another slab inches away from it, where the boy could sleep without accidentally getting hurt by Marius in the day sleep. Dominic prodded him to the slab and he sat beside Marius, hunched over with his arms crossed. Dominic and Ekon settled nearby where they could keep any eye on the new couple.

Marius lay back and watched his new partner, the boy glanced at him and they stared each other in the eye. Eventually Hadrian lay down on his back with his face turned away from Marius. The vampire could see his bite mark on Hadrian’s neck and he cringed sympathetically; it looked painful. He should have healed it. He would do it in the evening, the death sleep with pulling him under and as his vision blurred he saw Hadrian’s hand reaching up to touch that bite gingerly.


	3. Normal Dominant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hadrian can't sleep and Marius has nothing but hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having a rough weekend so I'm going to be posting a lot of shit that hasn't been checked for spelling or grammar errors, please excuse me writing is my coping mechanism.

Hadrian couldn’t believe his rotten luck. The vampires and verus around him were asleep for the day and he lay awake staring obsessively at his scales. They were ombre royal blue, the tips maintaining their white colouring until the bond was complete. Damn his curiosity and lack of common sense.

To make things even wore he was laying on the wrong side. He liked to sleep on his right side. Now he had to sleep on his left side because to sleep on his right side meant he would be staring at his new mate. Marius wasn’t ugly, but he wasn’t what Hadrian thought he would end up with either. The man was much older physically and literally, he was a vampire and he looked like a much older Augustan. Hadrian shuddered at the mental image.

It was probably noon by the time he gave up on getting any sleep, he sat up with a sigh and looked at his sleeping mate. The death sleep was creepy, all the vampires looked creepy in sleep. He stood up and walked around the room, passing vampires and verus as quietly as he could. He approached Armand and Daniel curiously.

Armand was his mate’s old lover and fledgling. He was very beautiful, still creepy, but beautiful. He looked far more peaceful and unthreatening in sleep. Daniel was cuddled into his makers side comfortably and he looked just as content in his position. They looked happy somehow. Hadrian glanced back towards Marius and snorted at the idea of ever cuddling like this with the man.

Hadrian went to his mate and watched him for a while. He wouldn’t be hurt if he touched Marius, their bond would protect him from the automatic response of vampires in danger. He touched the man’s cheek with a finger and scrunched his nose as the skin felt cold, hard and as smooth as glass. Marius’ hair was very pale, slightly fluffy and didn’t appear to grow beyond shoulder length. Hadrian trailed his hand down to Marius’ huge hand and he lifted it and examined the nails and the lines on his palm. Hadrian compared their hands and felt his heart sinking as he took in the differences, his hands would never grown to match Marius’; he would forever be as small as he was now.

Hadrian dropped Marius’ hand back where it belonged and hugged himself. His head hung and he tried to ignore the burning in the corners of his eyes. He looked back to his mate when the first tears slid down his cheeks. This was a man and he was just a boy, he hadn’t ever gotten to court or entertain the idea of mating with anyone he chose; his right to choose was ripped away because one man couldn’t control himself. Marius looked very intimidating suddenly and Hadrian felt even more distressed as he imagined all that still had to happen in the mateship.

He didn’t want to be near his mate, he started crying properly and turned the only way he could. He walked up to Dominic and Ekon and gingerly touched Dominic’s arm to wake him.

‘Hadrian?’ Dominic mumbled sleepily. ‘What’s wrong?’

Hadrian opened his mouth but all that came out was a sniffling huff before his face crumbled and all he could do was hold his arms out; asking wordlessly for Dominic to hold him. Hadrian knew he looked like a child but he hardly cared, he was overwhelmed and confused, he needed the adults around him.

Dominic was on his feet in an instant and held him in a tight hug while whispering for Ekon to wake up. Ekon’s hand stroked Hadrian’s cheek and the boy listened to the two talking.

‘I think we should let him stay here with us….’  
‘Dominic that might spark issues with Marius…’  
‘Ekon look at him…he’s never going to get any sleep on his own. He’s exhausted, his body is busy changing for the mateship and he’s confused and scared.’

Hadrian didn’t care that they were discussing him so openly in his presence. He just wanted to be held and hidden. Ekon’s hands came under his arms and Hadrian was pulled up onto the stone they were sleeping on. Ekon turned Hadrian to face himself and he cuddled the submissive close. Dominic came behind the boy and nudged him closer to Ekon, using his nose and cheek to position the boy’s face against the dominants neck. Ekon rubbed Hadrian’s arm while the boy inhaled his pheromones and began to drift off to sleep.

Dominic kissed his dominant and then the boy between them, he lay back down and tried to sleep. Ekon remained alert and kept his eyes moving around the room, observing everyone inside. The verus all appeared to be safe and asleep. The sun would be setting in four hours, since it was winter, the vampires would be awake, and they would have a lot to do.

Meanwhile Marius was dreaming, he dreamt about his lover to be. He saw they were in a garden; he had a child in his arms and his submissive leaned against the tree with his arms around a swelling belly. He reached out and took the boys hand in his own and compared them, such soft hands; such small, delicate hands in his own larger ones. He smiled at Hadrian when the boy looked away demurely. His attention was taken from the smaller male when the child in his arms started speaking to him in Varian. Marius set the child down and followed it with a patient smile. It was a good dream.

The old roman woke with the setting of the sun. He turned his head to check on Hadrian and found him missing. Alarmed Marius sat up and looked around worriedly.

‘He’s alright, he’s here with us….’ Ekon was quick to reassure him quietly.

Marius stood and slowly approached the three verus. He looked over Dominic’s shoulder at his mate. His cheeks were tear streaked and ever other breath was huffy or sniffly.

‘He has been crying?’ Marius felt a pang of guilt that he hadn’t been awake to help.

Ekon gave him a filthy look. ‘Wouldn’t you?’

‘Ekon that’s enough.’ Augustans hand landed on Marius’ shoulder. ‘This is a lot for him to take in, and his body is undergoing changes neither you or I will ever understand. He will be fine, he just needs some time and some rest.’

‘Changes?’ Jesse’s voice came up sleepily and they saw her walking towards them. She yawned and stretched as she walked and when she got to them she smiled and looked at Hadrian. ‘At least he’s getting sleep. Thank goodness he has you two looking out for him.’

Dominic had his back to them and couldn’t move without waking Hadrian, he looked over his shoulder to speak. ‘He came to us, we couldn’t have turned him away. We’ve known him since he was born, we care for him deeply…’

‘I believe we can start to go upstairs; we have much to plan.’ Lestat was evidentially awake and he was waking up Louis and David. ‘I assume you still need to plan your trip, and we still have much to learn about your kind before you go.’

The verus were all awake and most of the vampires had also surfaced. Armand was the only one of the older vampires to remain where he was. The boy lay with his arm over his eyes and one knee drawn up.

‘Come on Armand the night isn’t getting any younger.’ Louis said, he approached the boy vampire.

Armand lifted his arm to make eye contact with the consort, the vampires could sense the telepathic communication between them. Louis tensed and put his hands on his hips, he assumed a stern expression and spoke in a no-nonsense tone.

‘That is incredibly childish. Get up at once and be a productive member of our community.’ Louis turned away and walked out of the crypt before Armand could even blink.

Slowly, with much sniggering and amusement, the vampires and verus slowly began to leave. Marius waited beside Ekon and Dominic while they slowly woke Hadrian. Those beautiful grey eyes opened blearily, and he looked between the adults for a moment. Hadrian caught sight of Marius and made a sound of annoyance. The boy turned back into Ekon’s chest defiantly and held tightly to the man; preventing his removal as well as he could.

 _‘Come on Hadrian….you need to get up, I know you’re tired but you need to get up. We have much to tell you about your position and responsibilities.’_ Dominic stroked the boy’s hair over his ear. _‘Your mate is waiting for you. Get up and take his hand….’_

 _‘I don’t want to touch him.’_ Hadrian was petulant and irritated. _‘Why can’t you talk to me down here?’_

 _‘Because your mate needs to hear what we are going to be telling you.’_ Ekon joined Dominic and sat himself up; pulling Hadrian up in the process.

The large dominant set Hadrian on his feet beside Marius and took Dominic by the hand.

‘Come on then, as your prince said there is much to be done.’ Ekon gave no room for Hadrian to refuse.

The two adults walked ahead of Marius and Hadrian. They were nearly out of the crypts when Marius’ hand tried to hold Hadrian’s. Hadrian whipped his hand away and glowered at the man, he crossed his arms and stropped the rest of the way upstairs. Far from being upset Marius chuckled and smiled affectionately. Hadrian had no idea what was wrong with this dominant, but he almost hoped it would last. Things would be very different if Marius were to begin disciplining him like a normal dominant would; Hadrian wouldn’t stand a chance.


	4. Instinct

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is Varian in this chapter, it's in italics. But there's also untranslated Varian, you'll see it immediately when you see it. I haven't written the translations here, I'll explain their conversation in the next chapter!

Hadrian sat beside Marius grudgingly at the large council table. His elders were on the opposite side, he was on the side of the vampires. Marius sat to his left and the girl Jesse sat to his right. He looked between the trying out figure out why Jesse was on his other side, not another verus. He had been separated from his kind already and it saddened him. He was now on the other side of the glass and it was becoming apparent that he would remain there.

Marius was speaking to the older verus, asking them what they were planning to do. His voice was deep and smooth, he spoke confidently without sounding arrogant. Hadrian cocked his head to listen to the subtle nuances in the man’s voice. He wasn’t listening to the content of the information until he heard his name. Hadrian tuned into the conversation in time to hear the words he hadn’t expected.

‘We still mean to move along in our travel. The adults in our clan could probably withstand the cold weather but the little ones will be vulnerable.’ Augustan looked over at Hadrian. ‘We need to look out for them, they are the next generation of verus.’

His clan was leaving then, great, Hadrian thought. At least now he could get away from his idiot mate, Hadrian was satisfied with Augustans words.

‘Hadrian will of course remain here with you, since you cannot leave your position here. He will not be severely impacted by the cold so long as you take standard steps.’

It felt like ice water slamming Hadrian in the face when he heard Phillipe’s voice join the conversation. He had to stay here? Alone? With Marius? Hadrian stared wide eyed at his clan leaders. They ignored his stares and continued to discuss his mateship without him.

‘There are more of you out there?’ Lestat stopped Augustan from continuing. ‘How many?’

‘Nearly thirty.’ Phillipe spoke when Augustan hesitated. The smaller man gave his dominant a meaningful look and Augustan relaxed again.

Lestat sat back slowly and nodded his head. ‘We could accommodate all of you if you would like to stay here. I’m sure we can find a way to keep you all safe and healthy?’

‘Yes, perhaps it would be a better idea for you to remain here. I’m sure Hadrian would feel better having you all around?’ Jesse spoke up on his behalf and smiled at him when he looked to her.

Augustan and Phillipe smiled and shook their heads. ‘It’s not going to work, thank you for the offer but we really cannot take chances with the fledglings. Some of the submissives are expecting and we don’t have much time to get to our destination.’

Marius looked at Hadrian and the boy looked back at him with a frown. Marius sighed, he would have to do something right by the boy if he was ever to gain his trust. ‘Is there no way an adult could remain with him? I’m sure you must be frightened.’ The last sentence was directed to his submissive.

Hadrian gave Marius a skew look and then looked to his lap. He fiddled with the hems of his sleeves and tried to ignore the eyes that were on him from all angles.

Jesse rested a gentle hand on his back. ‘It’s alright, I’m sure we can find a solution.’

Phillipe cleared his throat and drew their attention. ‘Perhaps we can. Ekon and Dominic are the future leaders of a new clan, one that is building from our existing juveniles and adults who are bonding into other clans with other juveniles and adults.’

‘Yes, I see where you are heading.’ Augustan looked to Ekon and Dominic. ‘Hadrian is technically your responsibility. You could use this as a chance to practise your future roles.’

‘You want us to remain here?’ Dominic and Ekon exchanged looks of surprise and the submissive continued his dominants thought. ‘You want us to monitor their bond?’

Phillipe leaned forward so he could see them better. ‘It is your duty to ensure all your couples are healthy and happy. You need to be able to advise and counsel them in matters regarding their mateship. Perhaps this will benefit you as well, you might find yourselves understanding your own bond…perhaps even fulfilling it at last.’

Phillipe gave Dominic a stern look and the other submissive bowed his head, his hand reach up to touch his partially coloured scales gingerly. Ekon took his hand away from his face and kissed the submissives cheek. They made eye contact and Ekon lightly nudged Dominic with his shoulder, smiling as he did so. Dominic smiled weakly and nodded to Phillipe.

‘Alright we will stay here if it is acceptable?’ He looked at Lestat.

The brat prince shrugged and waved his question away languidly. ‘It’s not even a question, you are welcome here.’

‘Then it is settled. Ekon and Dominic will watch over your mateship through the winter and we will keep in contact.’ Augustan looked satisfied and he looked at Hadrian. _‘You won’t be all alone little one, even when we are gone and you one day stand on your own you’ll always have the clan behind you.’_

Hadrian was still staring at his lap but nodded silently. Marius looked between the boy and his elders for help. Phillipe smiled and mouthed to Marius the he must say something to the boy. They all looked at him expectantly and Hadrian slowly looked up when he realized they had all fallen silent.

Marius took one of his hands suddenly and he jumped out of his skin and off the chair. Hadrian backed up, holding his hand as though he had been burned. Marius stood as well and held his hands up, trying to reassure the boy he meant no harm.

‘Hadrian, I know we have barely met but I look forward to getting to know you better.’

Hadrian nearly snorted as he imagined darkly that he was sure Marius was looking forward to something. He kept silent and stared at Marius neutrally. Marius looked at Phillipe and Dominic desperately.

_‘Hadrian don’t you have something you want to say to Marius?’_ Phillipe tilted his chin up and tried to appear commanding, he was succeeding.

Hadrian crossed his arms over his chest slowly and pursed his lips. _‘Why should I say anything? I didn’t ask for this, I don’t want to be his mate.’_

_‘You don’t have to enjoy it, we certainly don’t expect you to be happy about this. It sucks eggs to be where you are right now.’_ At least Ekon understood. _‘You can’t undo the bond, you have to learn to live with him. If you have fledglings you need to be able to create a healthy home environment, and that means getting along with your dominant.’_

_‘I’m sure it won’t be half as bad as you think. You might come to like each other.’_ Dominic stood and approached him, they hugged and the submissive continued to talk. _‘You just need to give it a fair chance.’_

_‘What if I don’t want to give it a fair chance? What if I don’t want to have fledglings with him?’_ Hadrian argued petulantly.

Marius watched them speaking in Varian and tried to pick up what they were saying, but the words were altogether unrecognizable. They didn’t seem to be based in latin like many other languages. It was a beautiful language. He picked up on repeated words like nuinux, dalis and erulus. They spoke fast and pronounced the consonants sharper than the vowels. It wouldn’t take long to learn the language if they were willing to teach him.

‘What are they discussing?’ He addressed Maximillus as he returned to his seat at the table.

Maximillus looked at them and listened for a moment before replying. ‘They are explaining to him the process of fulfilling the bond and his responsibilities in the mateship.’

Marius looked to the three who had moved to sit alone at the end of the table. The boy didn’t know how to complete the bond?

‘He knows, more or less.’ Maximillus answered his thoughts. ‘But there are particular facts he needs to know, I’m sure they will impart the same knowledge to you when the time is right.’

Marius tore his eyes away from his mate and focused on Maximillus. ‘So all submissives are virginal? They never experiment?’

‘No dominant can resist the urge to bite a submissive in the heat of passion. It’s unusual for bonds to remain unfulfilled for long. Submissives can’t experiment without the risk of becoming mated.’

‘What about dominants?’ Fareed asked from Jesse’s other side.

Maximillus looked at Elias, the older brother of the twins. ‘Dominants can experiment with each other, in fact it’s a normal part of establishing hierarchy. We can bite each other without bonding, since two dominants cannot bond, so we can copulate to our hearts content.’

‘Are you two an item?’ Jesse was looking between them with an excited sparkle in her eyes.

Elias glared at her and crossed his arms. ‘What of it?’

‘Well if you are together then you will continue to age won’t you?’ She pressed on without hesitation or shame.

Elias grimaced and looked away from them. Maximillus tensed and eyed his companion sadly. Elias was still for a moment and then stood to join the other verus by the fire.

‘Did I say something wrong?’ Jesse was horrified by his response and she looked pleadingly to Maximillus.

‘Elias and I both lost our submissives years ago…’ He looked awkward. ‘He’s never really recovered…’

‘Oh I’m sorry…’ Jesse’s hand covered her mouth and her eyes softened sympathetically.

Maximullus smiled and shook his head. ‘It was a long time ago. I am nearly six thousand years old and Elias is close to three hundred. We have been around for some time.’

Marius was surprised by his age, how long had their kind been wandering the world? Maximillus, Fareed and Jesse continued to speak while Marius zoned out of their conversation. The other verus were all at the fireplace once again talking amongst themselves. Marius watched Hadrian’s twin wrestle playfully with the female Valerie; he seemed happy enough, perhaps Hadrian would brighten up over time. One thing was sure, the boy would need all the patience and kindness the old roman had to give. It couldn’t be easy being bonded by a total stranger against your will.

Marius was so lost in thought and the other vampires were speaking with Augustan and Phillipe about Hadrian’s needs and how best to provide for him. He barely noticed Hadrian’s voice becoming high and raised. The boy was flustered and seemed upset while his guardians were trying to talk him down.

‘Ome aceron digen que dalie qum ihi nuinix!’ Hadrian yelled at them.

The room fell silent and everyone was staring at the boy and his guardians. Augustan stood and walked up to Hadrian who stood and let Augustan get toe to toe with him.

‘Alis ecit vos quor?’ The dominant wasn’t angry, he seemed resigned but open.

The way Augustan spoke gave Marius the impression he had asked a reasonable question and was looking for a reasonable answer.

Hadrian repeated himself.

Augustan frowned now and put his hands on the boys shoulders. ‘Vos otes quor iusmo erum. Marius uod estra nuinix, et vos tebit everen lum.’

‘What are you talking about? Speak English so we can all understand.’ Armand said harshly. ‘You don’t see us speaking esparanto.’

‘Armand!’ Lestat snapped. ‘You are incredibly rude. Stop it. I’m sure it’s not something we need to be concerned about.’

The vampires muttered their agreement and started to return to conversation with the verus who were at the table. Marius continued to watch as Augustan spoke gently to Hadrian and the boy stood huddled up on himself.

‘Will you tell me what he shouted?’ He asked Maximillus quietly.

The huge man shrugged and held a hand up to dismiss his worry. ‘It’s normal submissive problems, those fools told him too much and freaked him out. You’re going to have to act quickly with this one; normally they aren’t told so much until they absolutely have to know. Or they find out the hard way.’

Marius didn’t like how blasé the man was, if Hadrian was upset about their upcoming union he would rather know and be able to help the boy. For now it seemed the two lead couples were handling the situation effectively as the five sat together and the adults had a proper conversation with the child.

Lestat’s hand landed on his shoulder and Marius turned to face him. ‘Well roman, good luck with that….it doesn’t sound like he will be hard to care for.’

Marius blushed and laughed. ‘I must admit I wasn’t listening to any of it, I was in thought.’

‘Keep him warm, feed him almost anything, he does drink blood the same as we do but he can also eat mortal food.’ Lestat shrugged. ‘He’s basically like a mortal except his body is different. Apparently in addition to getting pregnant, bonding, and never growing up his body uses everything it takes in and nothing goes to waste. He also will know if something isn’t safe to eat. It sounds like they have incredible instincts; they are different to us.’

‘It would seem so, but vampires aren’t naturally occurring and verus are; it makes sense that they have inborn instincts.’ Marius replied, he was feeling better now that he was suitably distracted. ‘I’m curious to see what all there is to learn about them, and I’m sure Fareed is itching to observe them.’

‘In his lab or in their own habitat?’ Lestat snorted. ‘Which reminds me; Maximillus you have nearly thirty of your kind in these parts. Where are the rest of them?’

‘They are in the forest.’ Maximillus replied casually.

‘In the elements?’ Jesse exclaimed. ‘But there are pregnant submissives and children! It’s already beginning to snow!’

‘Jesse is right, why don’t you bring them here? They can stay until you are ready to move on.’ Louis chimed in helpfully. ‘It can’t be good for them to be outside now, it will be far warmer and more comfortable in here.’

Maximillus looked over to Augustan who was still in conversation with Hadrian. ‘I will speak with Augustan about it when he has finished correcting the young one.’ Maximillus looked at Marius seriously. ‘You best observe them, anytime a dominant corrects a submissive you should take note, you will have to learn to respond to bad behaviour as a verus would. His instincts will expect it and if you do not follow through he will never take you seriously.’

It wasn’t going to be fun Marius realized with a grimace. Hadrian was strong willed and stubborn, and he had an obvious dislike for his new lover.


	5. Little Details

Hadrian was gobsmacked. The finer details of his future were being set before him in crushing honesty.

_‘The bond was successful, or your scales wouldn’t have coloured.’_ Dominic told him. _‘So you really have no choice now, you have to see the mateship through.’_

_‘But what does that mean? Everyone keeps talking about fulfilling the bond and completing the mateship but no one is saying what it means!’_ Hadrian huffed and glowered at his guardians.

Ekon put a hand on the back of his neck in warning. _‘Be patient, we are getting to that. You know you are submissive and he is dominant, but this does not mean either is better than the other. This is a partnership which means you have to work together.’_

_‘It’s a bit like a three-legged race.’_ Dominic chipped in helpfully. _‘Run faster or slower than him and you’ll both fall over.’_

_‘Mind you a partnership requires communication. At some point you are going to have to speak to your mate.’_ Ekon gave Hadrian a pointed look before continuing. _‘You have much to discuss with him. His expectations, your expectations, goals you may have together, fledglings you may have together, what you each need from the mateship and how you will compromise on differing opinions…’_

_‘So he won’t treat me like a slave? I’ll get to have a say in all of that?’_ Hadrian was sceptical at best; he had heard the stories of the vampires and Marius wasn’t described in a flattering light by anyone.

_‘He might, but I don’t think so. As long as you do what is expected of you he shouldn’t have any reason to punish you.’_ Dominic hesitated here and looked at Ekon wearily. _‘That includes fulfilling his desires if he asks you to and it is within reason.’_

_‘Are you trying to tell me…..’_ Hadrian turned to stare in horror at his mate who was speaking with Maximillus. _‘I have to mate with him because he says so? But you two haven’t mated! Why do I have to!’_

The boy was red in the face and angry, he clenched his fists and slapped Ekon’s hand away when it threatened to land on the back of his neck again. No one had said anything about this being a requirement.

_‘Don’t use us as the yard stick by which to measure your own relationship!’_ Dominic grabbed Hadrians hand and tried to soothe him. _‘Our relationship is ours and what we choose to do is our own business….we will fulfil our bond in time as you will fulfil yours.’_

_‘You just said that if he asks me to mate with him I have to do it!’_

_‘Within reason. That’s why you need to talk. You need to air out any concerns or boundaries and make plans as to how to approach the challenges you face as a couple.’_ Ekon was stern and he snapped at the submissive when he saw Dominics distressed and hurt expression.

Their relationship was sensitive, they had been bonded for five years but Dominic was reluctant to mate. It was something that hurt Ekon badly, in their first year or two it often caused fights about whether Dominic found Ekon attractive or desirable. It was a touchy subject and to hear it brought up so casually hurt.

_‘Dominic and I are working on it, we know where we each stand and we know what steps we want to take. That is what you need to do if you are ever going to have a successful mateship.’_

_‘I don’t want to mate with him, I don’t want to raise his young and I don’t want to be stuck with him either!’_ Hadrian implored them. _‘I don’t know how to do any of that anyway!’_

Dominic softened before Ekon did and he took the boys hands in his own. _‘Do you want me to explain to you? I know you have a vague idea but….’_

Hadrian nodded and leaned forward slightly. Dominic smiled and shared a loving glance with Ekon.

_‘I’m sure by now you’ve done some explorations?’_ Dominic laughed softly when Hadrian went bright red. _‘It’s alright, we’ve all been there; your own children will do the same.’_

_‘EW!’_ Hadrian gagged.

Dominic and Ekon chuckled and Ekon put an arm around his shoulders. _‘What Dominic is trying to get at is that you have no doubt discovered the way your body responds to touch as a female?’_

Hadrian blushed at his lap and nodded; this was so awkward.

_‘And you know how your body responds to touch as a male?’_ Dominic seemed to be unaware of Hadrians embarrassment. _‘Well think of it this way, Marius is the male role and you the female role-’_

_‘Wait! No! I know you aren’t about to say what I think!’_ Hadrian choked and looked over to his mate with unconcealed disgust.

Ekon squeezed the back of his neck harder than before. _‘Calm down, there’s no reason to get upset.’_

_‘That man over there who is easily twice my size is going to do things to me that sound absolutely awful! I’ve got fingers I know how impossible that is going to be!’_ Hadrian was adamant and his voice was getting louder and higher, attracting attention from a few people at the table.

Ekon pressed his nails into Hadrian’s neck and spoke through gritted teeth, clearly trying to keep his temper. _‘You won’t feel that way when the heat hits, and that’s most likely when he will claim you anyway, you won’t feel pain because your body will be ready for it. And if you mate outside of your heat it will probably be during a dominance battle, it’ll be over before you know it and again your body will know what to do.’_

_‘That won’t happen! I don’t want that!’_ Hadrian looked mortified and he looked between his guardians for help. _‘I don’t want him to force me!’_

_‘He won’t force you!’_ Dominic was trying to hug the boy and calm him down from his rising panic. _‘So long as you behave in the way he expects and you fulfil your duties he will have no reason to force you, you will submit on your own in time; I’m sure the heat will be the setting of your mating and you’ll be fine!’_

_‘I do not want to mate with my spouse!’_ Hadrian yelled at his elders, he stood up and pulled out of Ekons grasp.

The room was silent, Hadrian could feel all eyes on himself. Augustan was walking towards him slowly.

_‘What did you say?’_

_‘I do not want to mate with my spouse!’_ Hadrian repeated himself to the man.

Augustan stared at him thoughtfully for a moment before resting his hands upon Hadrian’s shoulders. _‘You cannot say such things, Marius is your mate and you must respect him.’_

Armand said something smarmily and Lestat shut him up with a snarl of his own. Slowly the room returned to quiet conversations between vampires and verus. Phillipe and Augustan sat down with Dominic, Ekon and Hadrian.

_‘Now what on earth have you two been saying?’_ Phillipe looked tired and exasperated.

Ekon and Dominic relayed everything to their leaders and the ruling pair were silent at the end. Phillipe sighed and looked at Dominic.

_‘How many more submissives are going to be born to our clan with this irrational fear?’_

Dominic looked away in shame and timidly touched his scales again. Ekon avoided Augustans face, knowing full well the older dominants opinion; he disapproved that Ekon had let his submissive control the relationship for so long and to such a degree.

Phillipe looked at Hadrian and told him in a no-nonsense tone. _‘You need to take your focus away from the act and put it on the relationship. Mating is a tiny part of your duties here. Marius is held in high esteem by these vampires and he is the right hand of the Prince, you are now his consort and your behaviour reflects on him. You will be expected to eventually fulfil the role any consort in court would; advising and supporting your dominant and setting an example to the people below you.’_

_‘Besides that you have the role of parent in your future as well. Marius has expressed an interest in having young with you and it is an interest he will want satisfied. In addition you are now above his fledglings on his priority list and you need to make that clear to all of them.’_ Augustan was just as strict as Phillipe and they weren’t doing it to be cruel; for Hadrian to have no rules or frame of reference his life would be infinitely harder. _‘You need to learn to get along; forever is a long time to be in an unhappy relationship….’_

_‘That is just your future concerns.’_ Phillipe was kinder now that Hadrian was quiet and listening attentively. _‘I know you are tired, your body must be aching by now from the changes but you have the rest of tonight to get through.’_

_‘I do feel sore, but I don’t know why. I thought I was already fully developed?’_ Hadrian put a hand over his sensitive chest where he had pins and needles that extended to his neck, back, into his belly and down his thighs.

Phillipe took his hand away from his achy muscles and held it lightly. _‘Your body chemistry is changing for Marius; your pheromones are being altered to make him lust after you and want to establish his dominance. Your scales are still changing little by little and the pheromones are starting to coat them. Your womb is getting ready for your heat as well if I’m not mistaken? In which case your usual pregnancy preparations are affecting your energy and body to a greater degree than usual; your body is racing to get you in heat as soon as it can.’_

He was due soon, Hadrian wasn’t regular enough to know the exact dates of his heat or the duration but he knew it was on its way. The knowledge that Marius’ mere existence was hastening it and therefore causing him these aches and pains made him resent the vampire even more.

_‘Go and spend time with your friends.’_ Ekon spoke gently. _‘You need to relax and distract yourself a little. I’m sure Marius can wait until tomorrow night to talk with you.’_

Hadrian hadn’t had the chance to speak with them since before he was bitten. They were by the fire and they were chattering cheerfully in Varian. It hurt to see them happy and laughing when he was in such a pickle. He wished he could go to them and relax, but he was too far under the weather to brighten up. He was tired, sore, upset and defeated by all he had learned. The adults sensed that he wasn’t moving and they slowly left him to his thoughts.

Gabriel made his move as soon as his brother was alone.

_‘Hades?’_

Hadrian looked up at his mirror image. Gabriel took his hand and got him to stand and walk to the fire opposite where their friends were. The two of them sat alone by this fire, they cuddled and Gabriel spoke quiet words of comfort into Hadrian’s ear. They would always have each other.


	6. Even If I Wanted To.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, it's not very exciting but I swear the next chapter will be a whirlwind :)

After sitting with Gabriel for a short while his other friends had joined them. The adults were all milling around the room, some sitting by fires others at the table and some just stood around. The verus kept looking over to their juveniles to make sure they were safe and behaving.

Marius was sitting with Phillipe and Augustan and they were clearly explaining the mateship to him in intimate detail. His facial expressions were serious and he was paying close attention to what they were saying. Hadrian was uncomfortable with not knowing exactly what they were saying. He couldn’t be sure that Marius wasn’t being told more than he had been told. Their conversation was going on much longer than his had which meant Marius was being told more or Marius was asking a lot of questions.

Hadrians stomach was in knots and he couldn’t help glancing over to them every few minutes. It wasn’t long before his friends noticed.

_‘Hadrian what’s wrong? You keep looking at your mate like he is conspiring against you.’_ Valerie said.

His friends were all looking at him and he sighed. The only way he could explain his dread was by sharing what their elders had told him. Hadrian tried to be as quiet as possible when he spoke so the adults wouldn’t hear him. He explained what his new duties entailed and what was expected of him and how the mateship was to be fulfilled.

At the end they all stared at him. Valerie and Henley weren’t surprised at all but Cael and Gabriel stared at him in horror.

_‘He’s going to do what now?’_ Cael asked uncertainly, he clearly didn’t believe it.

Hadrian sighed and looked at their dominant friends.

_‘He’s telling the truth.’_ Henley squirmed uncomfortably and avoided their eyes. _‘That’s how it’s done. They don’t tell submissives until they’re bonded so they don’t try it too soon and accidentally become mated.’_

_‘You shouldn’t have told Cael and Gabriel.’_ Valerie was calm and spoke kindly, but it was obvious she was serious.

_‘You guys can’t help me if you don’t know what I’m going through.’_ Hadrian pointed out, to which his friends agreed grudgingly. _‘Phillipe said I’m starting to smell different. Can you smell me?’_

Henley answered with a blush. _‘I can…Marius and I must be like each other in some way, I’m more……aware of you than usual.’_

_‘Don’t tell me you’re attracted to me?’_ Hadrian groaned. _‘One dominant is bad enough.’_

_‘It’s not like I can control it!’_ Henley squeaked, he was indignant and embarrassed. _‘Trust me the last thing I want is to get the tingles when I smell my childhood friend.’_

Gabriel and Cael started to giggle and snort. _‘The tingles?’_

_‘Don’t be mean, you’ll understand one day too.’_ Valerie scolded them. She turned to Hadrian. _‘What now? You’re staying here?’_

_‘Yea I’m staying here with Ekon and Dominic. They’re going to watch out for me while I’m here.’_ Hadrian rubbed his arms. _‘They’re supposed to help Marius seduce me.’_

_‘That’s not entirely true and you know it.’_ Gabriel said. _‘Phillipe told you that you have to be a consort, you’re a leader now. You will need to learn how to be a leader and they’re the best examples for you to follow.’_

_‘They’re good examples of leaders?’_ Valerie said scornfully. _‘They can’t even hold their mateship together.’_

Henley bristled. _‘That doesn’t mean they can’t lead.’_

The two dominants eyed each other, they must have decided it wasn’t worth arguing over because they changed to topic quickly enough.

_‘In any case I’m sure you’ll get a good run out of Marius, he’s been around long enough to have a few tricks up his sleeve.’_ Valerie poked Hadrians cheek to be playful.

_‘Dude that does not help at all.’_ Hadrian deadpanned, he ran his fingers through his hair and glanced over to Marius.

The vampire wasn’t ugly but wasn’t someone Hadrian would have chosen if given the choice. Who would he have chosen, that was a good question? Who was Marius? Was he good or bad? What would it be like to be his submissive? Would he be very strict and controlling or would he let Hadrian do as he pleases? Would they rule well together? Marius was looking at him, Hadrian startled when he made eye contact with the man. Marius smiled and waved slightly, Hadrian uncertainly lifted one hand and gingerly waved back.

_‘See you’re already making progress…..’_ Gabriel was being coy and it wasn’t funny to Hadrian.

_‘I am not doing anything that can be called progress. I can’t be his mate, there couldn’t be a worse punishment in this world or the next.’_ Hadrian rubbed his legs. _‘I don’t know him! I wouldn’t know where to start even if I did want to make this work.’_

_‘Well start right there, get to know him!’_ Cael encouraged, the little fledgling was cuddled up on Valeries lap and he spoke up sleepily. _‘Maybe you’ll like him, or at least get along well enough to lead together and mate and have fledglings.’_

_‘Fledglings and mating and leading a coven of vampires are not high on my priorities list.’_ A soft sigh escaped Hadrian and he again looked in Marius’ direction.

Dominic was walking towards them, blocking Hadrians view of his mate. One look at their elders face and the juveniles knew they weren’t going to be happy with what he had to say.

_‘Are you five alright over here? Cael are you warm enough?’_

_‘Don’t pussy foot Dominic.’_ Valerie sighed. _‘Just say what your master told you to say.’_

Dominic glared at her. _‘You do not speak to me like that, next time you will be punished. As for what I have to say…Augustan has decided that the rest of the clan will join us here for the next two nights and then everyone will be setting off except for Hadrian, Ekon and myself.’_

_‘No! Why so soon!?’_

_‘That’s not fair!’_

_‘We thought we’d get more time!’_

_‘Can’t we stay a bit longer?’_

_‘Yea then we can just follow on after them a little later!’_

The teenagers spoke on top of each other and Dominic had a hard time keeping up with them. He held up his hands and shushed them quickly, the adults around the room were staring at them.

_‘I know you want to be here for Hadrian, and I know you don’t want to be here without your friends, but this out of my hands; it’s Augustans decision and he has made it.’_ Dominic observed the saddened faces and watched Hadrians friends reaching out to pet his hair or squeeze his hands. _‘I know you’re worried, but you four will be going to meet new people and maybe you’ll come back with mates of your own! Hadrian you’ll learn to love it here. I think you and Marius could make each other’s lives quite vibrant. He seems to be a very nice dominant by any standard.’_

_‘He’s nice to you, that doesn’t mean he’ll be nice to me.’_ There was no way Hadrian was going to give in this easily.

Dominic didn’t look surprised he merely shrugged and stood up. _‘Suit yourself but you are only making your life harder by resisting. Your mother will be here later on so I suggest you pull yourself together.’_

Gabriel and Hadrian exchanged nervous looks. Their mother was a hurricane, she and Elias were two peas in a pod; probably because they were both dominants.


	7. Dominance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who is reading this! I love the support! Please do let me know in the comments if you are enjoying this or not, what do or don't like! I'd love to hear your thoughts! I'd really like to know who your favourite character is!

The arrival of the rest of the clan was a breath of fresh air. The familiarity of the scents and faces seemed to console the boy for while they were together. Before their arrival Augustan had arranged with Lestat that a separate room be prepared for the verus to rest and the Prince gladly got his people to organise a room with enough beds and space for the clan to sleep. The four pregnant submissives were especially relieved to be away from the vampires and they made no bones about showing it.

Hadrian was swarmed by the submissives of the clan when they saw him with his coloured scales. Marius had to admit he was jealous at the sight, he again listened in on the conversation and again felt frustrated that he couldn’t detect any meaning to what they were talking about.

_‘Unt vos lixe?’_ Was the most common phrase being said and Hadrian seemed to ignore it in favour of petting the pregnant bellies and kissing the submissives cheeks.

Marius wondered what it was they were asking but from Hadrians response he could sort of guess that it was something he felt unhappy about or at least not ready to answer. Watching him fawn over the expectant mothers gave the old roman some hope for their future. Perhaps Hadrian would be willing to carry his children, perhaps that would be what bonded them in the future. He wondered if Hadrian would feel kinder towards him if he gave the boy a fledgling to care for.

‘Those submissives will eat him alive for the rest of the night if you don’t go fetch him.’

Marius was startled by the appearance of a black-haired woman with grey eyes and a cool voice. She oozed confidence and raised an eyebrow when he said nothing.

‘Well? Are you so rude that you cannot introduce yourself to your mates mother?’

Marius jolted and turned fully, he held out a hand for hers and kissed it when she gave it. ‘Forgive me, you startled me out of a deep thought…My name is Marius, I didn’t know Hadrians mother would be here.’

‘Mmm….first impressions are important Marius, so far I am not impressed.’ She turned back to watch her son. ‘If you’re going to bumble and be so vacant you don’t hear a threat approaching you I have to question whether you can protect my son.’

Marius thought that was rather rude and he tensed up, he crossed his arms over his chest and turned to watch Hadrian. ‘Are you a threat?’

‘Only if you make me one.’

The woman walked away and left a bitter taste in his mouth. As she approached the submissives all moved away from her respectfully. Hadrian and Gabriel jumped into her arms excitedly and started babbling to her in verian. She led them to a settee and cuddled Gabriel on her lap. She was speaking to Hadrian while Gabriel dozed on her shoulder.

Marius was once again startled by a hand on his shoulder. This time it was a red haired man in his late thirties by the looks of him. He had stunning blue eyes and a kind smile. ‘I must apologize for my mate Marius, she can be quite aggressive when it comes to our fledglings.’

‘That is quite alright mister….’

‘My name is Lauca, my rude dominant is Cairan.’ Lauca smiled and rubbed the back of his neck in a show of nervousness. ‘She’ll warm up to you, she’s just a bit protective, our three fledglings are all we have and seeing Elias hurt was enough to last us a lifetime.’

‘I understand completely, one of my fledglings was also badly hurt once….’ Marius scanned the room for Armand and found him absent.

‘I know, I read both your stories…’ Lauca put his hand on Marius’ arm and rubbed it. ‘I can’t imagine how terrible it must have been for you.’

It was worse for Armand; Marius knew but he couldn’t admit it to himself let alone anyone else. ‘It’s past, we have a whole future ahead of us to make happier memories. You said Cairan is your dominant…how does that work if you don’t mind my asking?’

Lauca laughed. ‘Oh it’s pretty simple, it takes us much longer to get pregnant than other couples but basically we can both get pregnant. It’s not recommended for a dominant to get pregnant because it can cause some aggression to arise and dominants are bad enough without pregnancy. In our case I carried the boys, all she had to do was get her…well, get the necessary fluids where they needed to be.’

Marius felt his curiosity grow and his face flush. Lauca was also blushing but he looked open and willing to talk further.

‘I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable or pry but, is it then possible for Hadrian and I to have young without committing the act?’ Lauca made a face and Marius tried to calm him. ‘I only ask because I was told that he is anxious! I don’t want to make him uncomfortable or anything.’

Lauca didn’t look convinced but he shrugged. ‘You can do that, but I don’t recommend it. He won’t appreciate it when he’s having to give birth and he isn’t used to the experience. Besides that you need to establish dominance and that means in the bedroom, in public, in times of separation, in times where he will be exposed to other interested dominants. You need to be able to put your foot down and set reasonable boundaries and expectations. Of course, you should discuss all of this with him when you get some time alone.’

‘He hasn’t said a single word to me…’ Marius sighed.

‘He will talk when he’s ready, it’s not like he knew a few days ago that he’d be mated to a vampire. Plus he’s being left alone here while his family travel.’

It wasn’t comforting to Marius at all. If the boy wasn’t ready to talk in fifty years, they would never have a conversation and those boundaries and expectations would never be set. ‘I hope he will come around; I’d like to make this work.’

‘I’m happy to hear that, and I’m sure he will see it if you truly believe it. Hadrian needs to see that he can depend on you and that means you’re going to have to be the bad guy every now and then. Stick to your word and never back track, if you do he will never take you seriously and all of this will come to nothing.’

With those words Lauca excused himself and went to hug and kiss Elias and Maximillus who had been deep in conversation with David for the past hour.

Marius returned his gaze to Hadrian and his mother. The boy was upset and trying to withdraw from the conversation. A quick glance at a nearby clock told Marius it was time to go to the crypts. This would be a good chance to exercise his dominance and show both Hadrian and Cairan that he means business and is willing to step up and be a dominant. Marius approached quietly and put his hand on Hadrians shoulder gently.

‘Come along it’s time to go to bed for the day.’ He spoke in a neutral voice, kept himself upright and tried to exude confidence like Cairan had done.

Hadrian scowled, an expression Marius was really getting tired of, but he stood and faced his dominant obediently. Marius held out a hand for his submissives and felt mildly insulted when the boy looked at his mother for help. Cairan scowled at her son and he huffed and relented. Hadrian gingerly took Marius’ hand and allowed the man to lead him to rest. When he realized he wasn’t going with the verus Hadrian tried to pull away, Marius saw Phillipe watching them critically and knew he was meant to punish the behaviour. Remembering how Ekon had grabbed Hadrian by the back of the neck earlier he tried to do it. Hadrian tried to slap his hand away and made an indignant squeak when his dominant just squeezed harder.

Phillipe nodded approvingly and pointed it out to Augustan who smiled at Marius and bowed his head respectfully. Marius waited for Hadrian to stop squirming, which took a while, but when he stopped and looked at Marius he was released immediately. Augustan had explained to him that making eye contact was to be rewarded when appropriate and explained what he should expect Hadrian to do after being held by the back of his neck. Marius took Hadrians hand again and waited, Hadrian finally fell prey to his instincts and looked down while baring his neck.

That felt good to Marius, to see that he was making progress as a dominant. He pet Hadrian on the head and resumed walking down to the crypts. He tried to ignore that the boy was looking over his shoulder at his family, it was all new for him, he was still young and wanted his family; Hadrian would come around with time and patience.


	8. If this is my future

It was wonderful to see the clan again; Hadrian was swarmed by the submissives who all cooed over his scales and made sly comments about his dominant. He didn’t mind them scenting him, admiring the colour of his scales, and teasing him about his mating bite. He did mind them asking again and again if he was happy.

_‘Are you happy?’_

No he wasn’t happy! What a stupid question. Hadrian ignored it in favour of fawning over the pregnant submissives. He knew it wasn’t lost on them but still he maintained his sudden deafness. Until of course his mother approached.

Hadrian and Gabriel hadn’t seen their mother in a few nights, it was a blessing to hug her again and inhale her comforting and familiar scent. Hadrian held on tightly even as she pushed him away, just trying to get one last sniff of those dominant pheromones.

_‘Good evening boys….’_ She began softly, she shoed the other submissives back to their mates or parents.

_‘Oh mother you can’t imagine what’s happened!’_ Gabriel said seriously. _‘Hadrian was trying to protect us and Marius bit him and-’_

_‘I heard about everything that happened, so you don’t need to retell the tale.’_ She was dispassionate as always when she cut him off. _‘I don’t care how it happened; all I care about is what you are going to do about it?’_

She fixed Hadrian with a stern expression and waited for him to speak. He didn’t know what she expected, it wasn’t like he had prepared a presentation about what his future would hold. His mother was clearly unimpressed.

_‘I see you’ve not thought of a single thing to do with your mateship.’_

Hadrian made an indignant sound. _‘I have! Just not what you want me to have thought about I guess….’_ He finished his argument lamely and knew he had just worsened his predicament.

Cairan scowled at her son. _‘You have to have a plan of what you want to achieve and how you’re going to get there. You’ve been given a hurdle and there’s no way to go around it; you must go over. How are you going to go over without a plan?’_

Hadrian didn’t have an answer and Gabriel watched pityingly from his mothers lap as she tore into his twin.

_‘I suppose all you’ve thought about is how best to make your own life a misery.’_

_‘Actually I’ve been thinking about how to make his life a misery!’_ Hadrian snapped uncharacteristically.

His mothers hand gripped his neck and he squeaked and submitted immediately. She released him finally and set her hand back on Gabriels knee.

_‘Your life is his life, don’t you understand? You are bonded and you may think it skin deep but it isn’t. A bond runs deeper than anything, his connection to your soul is greater than mine or your fathers.’_

Her words gave both twins shivers and they looked at each other with shared trepidation. She softened and she cupped Hadrians cheek in her hand.

_‘I don’t like him either. He is an idiot. Being an idiot means he may well be easy for you to manage.’_ Cairan stroked her sons hair. _‘You need to find a way to get on with him, find a way to make this relationship work for you. You need to find a way to keep peace so you can keep yourself safe. Unlike these other fools I don’t think a vampire is a suitable partner, he is dangerous to you and won’t be stopped by instincts as we are.’_

It hadn’t occurred to Hadrian that Marius might one day attack him and seriously hurt him, but then the man had already bitten him.

_‘So you are advising me to not let him control me?’_

_‘I am advising you to do anything you can to keep him from having reason to hurt you.’_ She bit her lip and the twins saw a glimmer of tears blinked away. _‘I have seen one child scarred to his soul I will not see another.’_

Simultaneously they looked over to Elias and Maximillus and saw them deep in conversation with David. Elias had lost his mate and moved on with Maximillus but he never really recovered. Hadrian didn’t think it would be so awful to lose his mate, the only downside would be he couldn’t get a new mate.

Marius approached them from behind and startled Hadrian with a touch to the shoulder.

‘Come along it’s time to go to bed for the day.’ The vampire said.

Hadrian could feel his inner submissive purring in response to the very dominant vibe Marius was giving off but he suppressed it in disgust. As he was recognising his body’s response a scowl found its way to his face but he stood up and faced his mate.

Marius held a hand out to him and Hadrian felt his disgust rise, he didn’t want to touch the man for any reason. He looked to his mother but knew she wouldn’t help him, she had just warned him about being difficult. He had to take Marius’ hand and he followed the vampire expecting to go to where the verus were staying, but he saw the verus all beginning to wander off in a different direction and he stalled.

Marius looked at him questioningly but he pulled his hand away stubbornly and tried to stare the vampire down. To his surprise Marius grabbed him by the back of the neck like a verus dominant and squeezed. He tried to hit Marius’ hand away in a fury but Marius squeezed harder. He couldn’t help but squirm, partly because it was uncomfortable and partly because he wanted to see if Marius would let go if he didn’t stop moving.

Marius only shifted his thumb to press harder on a soft spot. With a pitiful whine Hadrian looked up at his dominant. Marius released him immediately but took his hand again and waited, he was still oozing dominance and making Hadrians knees tremble against his will. He couldn’t fight the instinct to submit and he bared his neck resentfully. Marius didn’t scent him like a normal dominant would have, he _pet_ the boy on the head like a child and continued to walk them to the crypts. Hadrian looked back at his family who were moving to their designated room; only his friends were watching him walk to his doom.

They made it down to the crypts and Hadrian was horrified to find they now had a separate room from the rest and it was finely furnished.

‘I wanted to move us into my room upstairs for comfort but I wasn’t sure that sunlight, a vampire and an unhappy spouse would go well together.’ The vampire said lightly.

Hadrian just gave him an eye roll and examined the room. Marius watched him walking around feeling the woods and fabrics. There was a wardrobe, a dresser, a huge bed with side tables, a writing desk, a vanity and a trunk at the foot of the bed. The bed was covered in red velvet, it was rather gaudy in Hadrians opinion and he made a face when he felt the velvet; it felt like ash to him.

He stood by the bed tracing the embroidered patterns on the bed spread, he’d never seen or felt anything like this before and he wasn’t sure he liked it or not. He was sure he wasn’t happy to be staying here with Marius and no other verus or vampires around.

Marius’ hands settled on his waist from behind and Hadrian stiffened. Marius kissed the back of his head and one hand pet his hip firmly. Hadrian held still while Marius smelled his hair and his hands worked circles on the submissives hips. This was the moment Hadrian realized Marius still had a good hour before the sun would take him. He’d been had.

Hadrian awkwardly tried to sidestep away from the vampire but Marius curled his arms around the submissives waist and moved to kissing his neck. Hadrian shivered when Marius’ cool lips pressed over their mating bite.

‘Phillipe has told me this mark won’t fade until we’ve mated.’ Marius said against his skin. ‘I don’t know how you feel about it, but I feel quite guilty; it looks painful. Is it?’

Hadrian didn’t reply, the less he gave Marius the better. Marius held him tighter and pressed their bodies together. Hadrian became very aware that they weren’t downstairs early for nothing when he felt Marius in all his glory.

‘You smell wonderful….’ Marius murmured. ‘Why is that? It’s driving me mad…’

Oh. Pheromones. Hadrian groaned at the realization; Marius was smelling his pheromones. Marius clearly misunderstood the groan and slid his hand down to try and cop a feel of his submissive. Hadrian slapped his hand and made no attempt at being delicate, he moved away from his dominant and glared at him when they were arm’s length apart.

Marius sighed and gestured to the bed. ‘Take off your shoes and jacket and get in. Perhaps another night….’

Hadrian walked around to the other side of the bed and did as he’d been told while Marius did the same on the other side of the bed. Marius moved to the middle of the bed and Hadrian stubbornly lay on the edge.

‘We’ll have to arrange for some clothing for you, you can’t wear the same thing every night, I’m sorry I didn’t think of it sooner. Perhaps a bath would also be a good idea…there is one through that door there if you would like to get cleaned up later.’

Hadrian ignored him and grit his teeth. He wasn’t dirty. He definitely wasn’t taking a bath down here with just Marius around waiting to pounce on him. He’d had one close call and he wasn’t going to have another any time soon. The one thing he would appreciate was a hunt, he had last eaten the night Marius had bitten him. Hadrian sighed and put an arm over his eyes as he realized he’d have to ask Marius about it, or ask Dominic to ask Marius.

Hadrian flinched, Marius’ cold hand was on his belly. The man just moved his hand in slow clawing motions. It actually felt quite nice but Hadrian didn’t want it to feel nice. He looked at Marius and tried to convey with his eyes how much he disapproved of the action. Marius just smiled and abruptly pulled Hadrian to cuddle with him. Hadrian was facing Marius with his hands on the vampires chest. They lay on their sides and Marius made a point of pressing their faces together, though Hadrian just managed to avoid a kiss.

Marius hummed and wrapped his arms tighter around the boy. Hadrian listened for Marius to fall into the day sleep. This was not going to be fun at all, if every morning was going to be this mess Hadrian was sure he’d kill the vampire eventually.


	9. Over Done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may seem a jump out of character but it will be explained! Enjoy my lovelies!

Waking up turned out to be as awful as falling asleep. Soft blue eyes inches from his own were the first thing Hadrian saw. Arms of steel held him down against a body of marble. He squirmed and tried to get Marius to let go but the man just held him and waited for calm. Realizing he had no way out Hadrian stopped and looked questioningly at Marius.

Hadrian didn’t even feel Marius’ hand come up, it touched his cheek so suddenly. He held still while Marius stroked his small scales. The scales on his face were smaller than anywhere else on his body. They were unique in that they had a diamond shape graduating down into a teardrop and the layers of scales progressed. Hadrian took great pride in his scales; like any verus did, they were of such great importance after all.

Hadrian brought himself back to the moment and cringed. Marius was petting his scales, it felt nice actually….but no! Be strong Hadrian, he admonished himself; you are not going to let this man turn you on because he poked your scales! Oh but Marius scratching his scales was another matter…..

Hadrian could feel himself purring. Marius’ fingers had gone from stroking to lightly scratching the scales on his cheeks. The hand worked it’s way down to Hadrians throat and continued the treatment there. Hadrian couldn’t lie, he was getting turned on and he pressed himself close to Marius for some relief from the ache. The vampire pressed back against the submissive, and Hadrian felt another wave of excitement wash over him. Marius’ breath passed over his cheek and ear and Hadrian bared his neck instinctively.

Marius gladly took him up on his offer and replaced his hand with his mouth. Marius was mouthing his scales; Hadrian couldn’t get his head around it. His hands were clenching and releasing against Marius’ bare chest; he briefly wondered when that had happened but the thought left him when Marius’ fang caught on one of his scales. It hurt, and Hadrian pulled back sharply. Marius startled and got a firmer hold on him.

‘Hadrian? What’s wrong?’

The vampire looked so concerned for an evil, tempting, rude, opportunistic, talented, seductive, experienced….where was his train of thought going? Hadrian just stared into his mates blue eyes in wonder.

Marius was topless, a change from the night before, and he had a healthy pink glow and warmth in his skin. Hadrian shook his head, his head was clouded by some confusion he didn’t understand. Had he been drugged? No….Marius’ wouldn’t know how to drug him and no one would have told the vampire.

Marius was shaking him gently by the shoulder, he let his thumb rub a circle on Hadrians exposed collar. ‘Hadrian? Are you alright? Did I hurt you?’

Hurt? Had he been hurt? Hadrian looked down at himself, he didn’t look hurt in fact…mmmm better to pretend that wasn’t there…he looked back at Marius and turned his face into the pillow. He felt dangerously disoriented and needed to block everything out; there was too much around him. It was colour and light and sound and sensations and that smell. Hadrian sighed into the pillow, there was just too much stimulation.

Marius was rubbing his back for him and Hadrian focused on it, it felt good even if he hated Marius. Hated Marius? Hated him? Hadrian felt the fog lifting from his mind and he forced himself up onto his knees beside the vampire, looking down at him completely aghast at his own behaviour.

‘Are you alright?’ Marius didn’t miss a beat.

Was he alright? Hadrian hesitated, he wasn’t sure, he’d never experienced anything like that before. He knew however that a repeat was not on his to-do list. It was terrifying to be so afloat and far off the ground, out of control. He really should answer his mate, his instincts nagged at him that he was being disrespectful.

_‘I am healthy.’_ He muttered when his inner submissive wouldn’t shut up.

Marius replied in a carefully neutral tone. ‘I don’t understand verian, please answer me in English.’

Oh no, that he wasn’t going to do. Hadrian crossed his arms and looked at Marius as though he were insane. If Marius heard him speak English once he would never get away with being silent again.

‘Your family are leaving in a few hours.’ Marius sat up. ‘Go and bath, there is a change of clothes for you on the basin as well as a few hygiene products.’

He didn’t want to go somewhere naked while Marius was lurking around. The vampire seemed to guess what he was thinking, for he shrugged and waved a hand at the boy.

‘I have bathed and attended to all necessities. I will leave you be.’

Not that Hadrian believed him; but he was tempted by the idea of a bath. He dragged his aching body up off the bed and went into the bathroom. He shut the door and leaned back against it. Why was he so sore? This was unnecessary pain. He let the bath run while he made use of the toothbrush and toothpaste Marius had left for him on the basin with the promised change of clothing.

He finally settled in the warm water and let his mind go. What was that all about? Losing all control of his senses and becoming overcome by every one of them was new. It was like he wasn’t physical, and Marius was the only solid point. Speaking of. He scowled at his not so trusty little friend, traitor, he thought sourly. How could he have enjoyed Marius touching his scales like that and kissing them? Why had he let the damned vampire close to his neck again? Why hadn’t he bitch slapped the man to the moon?

He knew it was instincts trying to take his choices from him, but he’d be damned before he allowed himself to be controlled by something so stupid. He got out of the water and dressed. He pep talked himself through exactly how he would act towards Marius when he walked into the bedroom. He stood finally at the door and opened it confidently.

Marius was sitting at the desk and two younger vampires were busy making the bed and tidying up. They made eye contact with Hadrian and he sneered when their eyes became greedy.

‘Ah you’re ready?’

Marius held a hand to him and remembering the night before Hadrian took it without arguing. They walked upstairs side by side with Marius prattling on.

‘-of course with it being winter it’s a little difficult to get around, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy the village. Once it warms up we can start travelling to Paris if you’d like to try some new things. Forgive me if I seem patronizing, have you ever been to a cinema?’

A cinema, really? Hadrian gave Marius his usual “are you stupid” look. The vampire wasn’t backing down however, he was pushing through the bond and unknowingly making Hadrians ears ring. The submissive shook his head and shut his eyes tightly. Marius pulled him close to try and help, but it only served to heighten the state of over stimulation. Not again, Hadrian thought miserably. He used his free hand to shove on Marius’ chest.

_‘Please, you are making it worse…..’_ He muttered in verian.

‘Hadrian, Marius!’ Dominics voice echoed down from the opening of the crypts.

Marius used his speed to grab Hadrian and place them swiftly at Dominics side. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong, he’s been having dizzy spells, this is the second one tonight.’

Dominic cupped Hadrians chin and looked into his eyes. He was worried but he could see nothing wrong besides a bit of flush and lack of concentration. He wondered briefly if it was the bond or Hadrians own body causing the state he was in. Dominic knew Hadrian wouldn’t appreciate him giving away delicate information on the fly so the replied as tactfully as he could.

‘I think it’s just- well…I’m not how to say this-’

‘He’ll be alright…I think he’s just tired, the bond is still forming and if you push on it you can make each other quite ill.’ Cairan had joined the conversation much to Dominics relief.

Hadrian pulled away from Marius to fall against his mother; she held him, kissed his head and whispered comforting words in verian.

‘Come on.’ Dominic tapped Marius’s shoulder. ‘This is the last night they’ll be together, and you have a lesson to attend to.’

‘A lesson?’ Marius barely peeled his eyes away from Hadrian. ‘What lesson?’

Dominic gestured for Marius to follow and they went into the ballroom. All the verus were there, Marius saw now that there were two toddlers amongst them as well who had been carefully hidden the night before. The dominants were together and speaking with Lestat and David about something. Augustan greeted him warmly.

‘Evening Marius, you look a little shaken?’

Dominic saved him from answering. ‘The bond is takings its toll.’

The dominants accepted the response and returned to conversation.

‘Well Marius, are you ready for one of the most crucial lessons you’ll ever have?’ Ekon said.

Marius still wasn’t sure how he felt about this one. He was very snarky and could be downright rude, he also made his dislike of Marius clear. He thought Marius couldn’t be a good dominant, well….Marius would rub his smug face in the dirt.

‘What is the lesson?’ He replied cockily.

The dominants moved to the glass doors that led into the grounds with Marius, Lestat and David in tow.

‘Hunting.’ The dominants voiced as one.


	10. Parting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Long time no see! I got a new job, had to move far off again. It's been another nightmare. I'm doing some interesting work in the educational field now which is not where I saw myself but I like it. I'm hoping to start having more time (and energy!) to write now that things are settling down. My boss may go overseas soon and leave me behind to carry on working so I'll have even more energy! Please enjoy this chapter! And thank you to everyone leaving comments and kudo's, it feeds the beast! :)

The hunt was thrilling. The verus, followed closely by Lestat, David and Marius, raced through the trees as deadly as wolves. Their prey: buck. Common buck who inhabited the area in great numbers. They took down five between them and began to haul the carcasses to the chateaux.

Marius walked alongside Augustan on their return.

‘So Marius, keen to get to know your submissive?’

The vampire frowned. ‘Yes, of course, he and I will be together for as long as we live; my longest relationship ever. I want very much to make it positive.’

‘Mmmm good.’ The man hummed a tune to himself.

Marius let his thoughts drift to Hadrian. The younger male hadn’t been well that evening, Marius hoped some food and time with his family would brighten him up. He’d had a glimmer of hope when Hadrian had responded positively to his experimental touches. Of course it was dashed when Hadrian suddenly became ill.

Marius wasn’t sure what had happened, only that Hadrian had very suddenly pulled away and fought to be left alone. He returned to his usual grumpy self fast enough but still….Marius was worried. Worried and confused.

Hadrian smelled like heaven, Marius mused, the most divine thing he had ever smelled in his two millennia. It was hard to keep from rubbing his nose on the boys face and nuzzling into his hair….licking those tiny scales behind his ear….looking into those stunning grey eyes and kissing pink lips. Marius sighed, it was hopeless, he thought. Hadrian was steadfast that he didn’t like Marius and it would take a miracle or a lot of work to bring him around.

Hadrian wasn’t the first unruly teenaged boy he needed to bring to heel, but this was different. Armand had been his pupil before he was his lover. Hadrian was to be his life partner above all else. He needed a new approach, one with less discipline, more love, plenty of patience and unending understanding.

Marius steeled himself as the chateaux steps appeared before his eyes and he hauled his kill over one shoulder. Hadrian was in one of the private chambers, reserved for the vampires feeding, with the other submissives, juveniles and children. He was between his parents and looked a little better than he had earlier.

Marius watched to see how the other dominants gave their kills to their submissives. Simply placing it on the ground in front of them and beginning to have conversations. The little ones sat and ate with the submissives, family units it seemed.

Hadrian was looking at him expectantly and Marius was shocked into action. He crossed the room with long strides and lay his kill proudly in front of his submissive and his submissives family. They looked at Hadrian and watched his reaction. The submissive went still and stared at the kill with a blank expression.

Marius nervously shifted his weight over his feet. Was it not good enough? Was there something wrong? Was Hadrian too sick to eat? Was there something he was forgetting to do?

He looked around anxiously to see if there was something he was missing. Augustan was watching them and he was having a laugh with Phillipe about their predicament. The verus used his own kill to demonstrate Marius’ next step. He had to open the creature to reveal its innards. Marius knelt opposite his lover and did as Augustan had done.

Red, glistening, sticky organs slid out of the carcass and Hadrian stirred finally. He eyed his dominant critically and began devouring the animals’ liver first. There was a wave of sound through the room immediately and Marius looked about in confusion. The verus were glancing at them and clearly discussing them excitedly in verian. He felt uncomfortable, not knowing what they were saying was worrying and he asked silently for Hadrians parents to explain the change in atmosphere to him.

They pretended not to notice and instead doted on their child and spoke to him in verian so that Marius wouldn’t understand. Hadrian was looking at him strangely, there was a spark in his eyes like what Marius had seen that morning and he wondered if Hadrian felt as hot under the collar as he was feeling. 

Hadrian went on to eat the kidneys and some muscle off the neck, then stopped and moved away from the kill. He stood and walked away licking his fingers and Marius followed him. Hadrians family took over the remaining meat and organs. The vampire followed his submissive to a sofa, it was situated by a fireplace where many children had gathered after feeding and were laying down to keep warm.

They sat in silence next to each other. Marius watched, entranced, as Hadrian licked and sucked blood off his hands and forearms. He followed every swallow with his eyes and his mind followed with some lewd thoughts. Hadrians scent wafted into his nostrils and he couldn’t help putting a hand on one of his mates thighs possessively. 

Marius could see Hadrian think about swatting his hand away but he seemed to think better of it and pretended Marius wasn’t there at all. Marius settled with it; it was progress after all.

Hadrian didn’t speak to him but listened while Marius spoke.

‘It was exhilarating to hunt with your clan. I haven’t hunted animals in many centuries and when I did it was never like this.’ He felt his muscles relaxing the more he spoke. ‘I don’t really know what criteria make a kill a good one, I don’t know what the purpose behind it is besides feeding; I’m sure however that there is some social purpose as well between you and I in particular. Am I right?’

Hadrian just shrugged at him and made a confused face. Marius hummed and nodded his head. ‘No I suppose not, you are rather new to this as well, I think.’

He continued rambling to Hadrian who simply sat and listened while the toddlers crawled all over them and pulled his hair. Marius thought it was endearing to see his submissive allowing these children to play and not getting upset with them at all. It brought his mind to the dream he’d had about their own children. He turned to face Hadrian, rested one arm on the back of the couch and let the other settled where belly met thigh, as close to Hadrians stomach as he dared go.

He was rewarded with Hadrians scowl. The boy lifted his hand instinctively to slap Marius away but he paused and it seemed to take all his will power to not hit his dominants hand. Marius gave him a squeeze and removed his hand.

The time for the verus to leave came all too quickly for Hadrian. Marius and everyone else could see the distress he was trying to hide. They walked together to the front steps of the chateaux. The verus were leaving by car, on Lestats insistence, and as they said their goodbyes they made their way into the vehicles until only Hadrians immediate family were left on the steps. Augustan and Phillipe had exchanged words with Lestat, Louis, Dominic and Ekon then tilted their heads to Marius and walked away.

‘We will be back before you know it…we will phone you every night…..don’t be upset, we love you and if we could remain here we would….oh my baby…’ Hadrians father was having an especially difficult time. He clung to his child and kissed his cheeks.

Hadrian accepted all the affection like a dry sponge dropped in water. Marius thought he saw tears but his father wiped them away before anyone could say for sure. It was physically painful to watch Hadrians parents step away from him.

Hadrian and Gabriel hugged tightly for several minutes, talking quietly into each others ears. Marius wished he could understand what they were saying. It was quite an emotional separation that was certain. Gabriel was crying, and Hadrian was trying to comfort him.

They had to separate eventually and Hadrian said his farewell to the rest of his clan. Gabriel had to be carried away and Marius had to put his hands on Hadrians shoulders to keep him from following them. It was heart breaking and Marius wished things could be different.

They watched until the verus were out of sight and Hadrian shrugged off Marius’ hands uncomfortably. He turned and walked into the chateaux, meandering aimlessly.

‘Hadrian.’ Marius grabbed his wrist to stop him. ‘Why don’t we go do something together, to get your mind off everything? Do you play chess, or would you like to read, or would you prefer to watch a film?’

Hadrian glared at him and Marius felt his heart stop for a brief instance. No one had ever looked at him like that before, it was terrifying. Hadrian pulled his wrist free and stormed off, clearly he didn’t want to be with Marius so the vampire let him go.

Ekon put an arm around his shoulders and sighed dramatically. ‘Tough luck there mate. Maybe another time?’

‘Ekon….’ Dominic whispered from across the room.

Marius looked up and watched the exchange between the two. They were having some silent communication between them, Marius wondered if they could read each other’s thoughts; then could he read Hadrians and vice versa?

Ekon released him and scoffed. ‘It’s all in good fun, isn’t it old man?’

Marius bristled, he disliked Ekon, intensely. ‘I’m sure it is. If you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do.’

He stalked off, in a terrible mood over the events of the evening.


End file.
